WAIC fosters partnership for a better future

WAIC Future Tech

Groundbreaking disruptive innovations often lie in the hands of young talents yet to gain global recognition — and Future Tech exists to discover these breakthroughs ahead of the curve.

As the venture capital ecosystem arm of WAIC, Future Tech identifies promising youth-led startups and connects them with investors, industrial application partners and technical resources.

In 2025, Future Tech selected over 200 early-stage projects from more than 600 global entries to showcase at the conference. About 70 percent of these ventures were founded within three years, and post-1990s founders accounted for over 40 percent of all founding teams.

This year, 22 one-person companies, or OPCs, and 158 startups stood out from 1,200 innovative projects after rigorous screening and secured booths in WAIC's venture ecosystem exhibition zone.

The participating enterprises focus on four core tracks: industrial applications, embodied intelligence and end devices, computing infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies. Industrial applications and embodied intelligence remain the most competitive tracks this year, with these young teams deeply embedded in real-world industrial scenarios.

Future Tech also launched the OPC challenge this year, centered on three core concepts: originality, open-source and individual entrepreneurship. The national grand finale concluded on June 17, where eight top teams prevailed from over 600 projects across eight regional divisions to compete in the final round.

Covering gaming, sleep health, education, finance, office efficiency, healthcare and other verticals, the eight teams will receive direct access to this year's WAIC in July, displaying their products at dedicated booths for in-depth exchanges and on-site discussions.

Selecting promising projects is merely the starting point, Future Tech delivers tangible, high-value matchmaking resources for startups. For WAIC 2026, its venture ecosystem has forged partnerships with numerous capital firms and investment institutions, extending targeted invitations to over 200 professional AI investors and setting up an exclusive zone for capital matchmaking.